Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Andrew Glazewski --- priest, mystic, scientist and friend

One defining moment in my life was a couple of years ago
when Amber and I, driving toward Dartmoor, decided to
stop by IlfordPark.
For me this was pure nostalgia, a trip down memory lane to see my friend
Father Andrew Glazewski 's old house. Back in 1971/72 I visited him there, an
army barrack with a curved corrugated iron roof. He was chaplain to a community
of Polish refugees, known as “Little Poland” --- people scarred both physically
and emotionally by the war and who could not integrate into British society.
Andrew (he liked to be called that, without the “Father” or other title), meant
a great deal to me. I met him when I was 13, learned how to meditate from him,
how to heal, about angels and other supernatural matters.

We drove into the area of the camp and soon realized that
we were looking at an empty field. The barracks were all gone, the church, refectory,
Andrew’s house. All that was left were the concrete slabs. Past the old camp,
stood a modern building for Polish old folks. With an empty feeling in my chest
I asked the young receptionist if anyone there remembered the old times,
especially the chaplain. She agreed to put up a notice on their bulletin board
with my inquiry and my contact details.

Ilford Park Camp, around 1960.

As we explored the Dartmoor tors,
wandered through the mists and tasted the magic of the place, Andrew remained
in my mind. The camp had been wiped clean along with all the memories. Only a
few old residents, mostly with failing memories remained. How could Andrew and
his inspiring teaching be so forgotten? Google his name and almost nothing
shows up. And yet the man drew large audiences, inspired both the religious and
atheists to explore a world beyond our physical senses. Among spiritual seekers,
if you mentioned his name, either “Glazewski” or “Glass of Whisky” and everyone
knew who you were talking about. He had researched the nature of the human
field, carried out experiments to test his ideas, published scientific papers.
All gone and forgotten. Or maybe not. I could perhaps write a biography, or
compile his writings --- if I could find them. Ideas and teachings that had
such a strong hold of me needed to be shared with others.

Andrew Glazewski with Sir George Trevelyan of the Wrekin Trust. Between 1965 and 1973 they collaborated, holding workshops to discuss the new emerging consciousness.

While staying at Felicity’s house in Dorset
I set about finding out what I could about Andrew’s family. On a Polish website
devoted to family trees, I found Andrew’s family. His brothers were all dead,
but his nephews/nieces must still be alive. Somewhere.

It's strange how, when you put your mind to it, doors start opening.
A story that I wanted to tell clearly wanted to be told. An internet search
turned up Adam Glazewski, Andrew’s nephew, living in France.
After a few tries we connected by phone. "Yes," he said, "Andrew was my uncle." He
liked what I was trying to do and said that he would arrange to send me all of
Andrew’s letters in the family’s possession. Within a couple of months a large
package arrived on my doorstep: a trove of correspondence giving me an insight
into some of his relationships, but still not enough for a biographical project.

1972 on St Mary's island where Andrew held an annual summer camp for the parish children. He talked to them a lot about druids, fairies, angels but not much about religion. His right hand holds the pendulum he used for healing.

In response to the notice I left at IlfordPark, people who knew Andrew began to call me. They wanted to talk about him. One woman sent me a 30 page
unfinished biography of Andrew written by Bob Bloomfield. Many leads ended up
dead. Boxes of correspondence left after his death had been binned, or left to
rot in basements, destroyed by water, etc. I kept up emailing anyone who might
have known him. A website by the author Maryel Gardyne had some of Andrew's writings. Further inquiries led me to the sons of Bruce MacManaway, a healer in whose
house Andrew had spoken several times.

On December 22
2012, a box arrived at our house: tapes of Andrew’s conversations
sent by John MacManaway. Bruce was apparently a pack-rat who kept everything.
Thankfully, John also held onto the recordings. They had deteriorated badly.
The tape player was useless as it produced indecipherable sounds. I sent the
reel-to-reel tapes off to my friends Ben Ashton and Roger Wharmby who were able to read them and
make digital files. I loaded the old cassettes onto my computer and using
various filter options was finally able to hear Andrew’s talks ---his passionate voice,
sometimes soft and then rising to an emotional high. Quite recognizable.

I still didn’t have enough material for a full biography. An enigmatic man, he remained so after his death. I doubt if more than a handful of people really knew him well, understood his private thoughts, his feelings, his rough spots --- and I’ve no doubt he had bunches of them. But if nothing else, I could edit and transcribe his talks and writings, give people a flavour of something exciting, that inspired so many of us in those days. I’ve done that. The book, The Harmony of the Universe by Andrew Glazewski is due to be published by White Crow Press early next year.

Andrew's grave in Newton Abbot cemetery. 40 years later, every All Souls Day procession still begins at his grave.

Recently I’ve come to realize that many scientists have
latched onto the same ideas that Andrew had been teaching, and have taken them
further. Rupert Sheldrake’s Morphogenetic field is remarkably similar to what
Andrew called the Primary Field. Andrew’s healing technique which he called
Psycho-Physical Healing, was rediscovered soon after his death and named Therapeutic Touch. Ervin
Laszlo and Massimo Citro’s latest researches bear out many of Andrew’s
predictions about the future of medicine.

Whether Andrew himself is remembered is no longer important.
The teachings were not his personally but were out there waiting for anyone who
was ready to discover them. I suppose that will be our fate too. Fifty years
after we are gone, and all who knew us are dead too, whether anyone remembers
us and our special gifts won’t matter a damn. In the first place, our thoughts, inspirations and
visions never belonged to us personally but to all people.

Many of these talented special people have come and gone in the 20th century, their resonance survives because of the importance of their messages. Now it is becoming clear that the scientist and the mystic are reappearing all over the world. We will all be transformed by this when the tipping point arrives.

This morning I knew I wanted to track down... Father Andrew Glazewski. His name came spontaneously into my memory - which was a surprise and delight. Ah.. to discover, following your lead, that a book has only just been published on his life and work... and to discover that you are the author / compiler.